Sleepless in Sweden

Recent data from a Statista Consumer Insights survey casts light on the prevalence of sleeping problems in different countries, affecting more than a third of respondents in 25 out of the 32 populations surveyed.

Respondents were asked if they had experienced a sleep disorder in the 12 months prior to the survey. In all of the countries included on the chart, women were more likely to have experienced a sleep disorder than men. In Sweden, the country where trouble sleeping was most prevalent, 56 percent of women had experienced symptoms of sleep disorder in the past year versus 45 percent of men. In the U.S., there was a 4 percentage-point difference (39 percent women to 35 percent men).

According to the Sleep Foundation, women and people assigned female at birth are more likely to experience insomnia. Researchers say this is the result of a combination of sex-based factors such as hormone production as well as gender-based differences, which “may be driven by social and cultural disparities”. Predispositions to certain physical or mental health issues are also cited as possible factors believed to lead to higher rates of sleeplessness in women.